Portable radio equipment



Nov. 21, 1950 W. S. HARMON PORTABLE RADIO EQUIPMENT Fild April 4, 1946Waler S. Harm on IN V EN TOR.

WW Q fiatentecl Nov. 21

UNITED .S UFFI CE Ihis invention relates tosradio receivingequipment,and particularly to-"an-ten na arrangements for radio receivers o'f theportable type. in equipmentof this "nature the antenna imust be capableof-eflicient periormaincewhen-the set is in use, and yet ibe capable ofbeingisstowed :in such a way asnot to-interferewith-thla requirements-oftransportation when the set is car-r-ied -from place to l-place. inequipment which is roperable from the power supply mains, it is alsodesirable to provide some wa of :stowing zth'e power cord awhen th-e setiscbeing :carried about. All of these requirements must be .met withoutin any way detracting from atheappearance of theequipment, or f-rcm itsioperability b :relatively unskilled .persons.

It -is accordingly an object of my invention to provide an antennastructure ;for portable radio sets which is completely contained withinthe ease or cabinet, but which can be readily moved-into "aconfiguration Which will allow it to :function 48$ maximum e'fliciency.-An .additionalioh ject is to provide suchastructure which willrgivelrready access to ,a power :cord when the antenna is moved to itsoperatingposition. -:A still further :object is 1130 provide an antennawhich, whenused with agcase,0r;cabinet of:suitable construction, willoperate Without :being moved from its enclosed "position, especially inlocalities Where radio signal strengths are high.

It is also anobiect:ofmy invention to achieve the above results by aconstruction which, While simple and relatively inexpensive tomanufacture, is extremely rugged and dependable in operation.

In accordance with a particular form'of the invention, there iscomprised :in :portable Llfa'dio equipment 'a case, .a chamber :withinthat "case pro'viding stowage room for ca power cord, the case beingapertured to "provide access to the chamber. A closurepanelis:hingedlyconnected to the case Itcrmoxtement :between positions in which flitcloses the aperture -:'of: the case and to which it extends voutwardlytherefrom. The radio' equipment-also comprises a rod -like antennaelement pivotally mounted' upon that surface of the closure panelvv-hichfaces inwardly of the case when the panel is in aperture-closingposition. The pivotal mounting of the rodlike antenna element*isspaced-from thehinge connection between the closure panel and the caseand the pivotal axis of the antenna element is substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of the closure panel.

The above-mentioned and other objects and *4 :Claims. (01. 250-44)advantages of my invention "will 'best be understoodrrom the followingdetailed description of a preferred embodiment ofjmy invention, refer-.en'ceibeing made to the accompanying drawings, in Which "Figure "'1 isa perspective view of a portable radio. set embodyingmy invention,

the device showniin Figure "1,

Figure 3 is'a fragmentary sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 'ofFigure'.4,'and

flFigure 41's a fragmentary sectional view taken on "the line 4-4otFig'ure 2.

Referringnow'to Figure '1 of the drawings,"the numeral "re designates"the "case of 'a portable radio receiving set "of the 'kind't'o which myin vention-is particularly applicable, provided with the 'usual'c'arrying "handle J2. Case lid is here shown as formed of metal,although it maybe made of wood, plastics or'oth'er -suitable materials.The back plate M of the case is provided with anop'eni ng I16 whichgives access to "the il'it'erior of "the c'asein which are contained thereceiverph'assia and either a power supply cord and its plug 28 'ort'heusual complement of sencontained batteries, :or both. Apanel i8 is"connected to the lower edge of opening it, as by ja 'liinge'EB,and-forms 'a movable closure for said openinggas Well as providing 'asupport 'or shelf for certain {parts to'be "described hereinafter. Pairsof :IillkS 2 2 arepivotally connected to case ifs an d"to panel 1,8 tolimitits jop'enin'g movement to ninety degrees. is r'finger hole 24 "maybe formed 'in panel V8 ftoffac'ilitfie inovingit iironl its closedposition, fand {is desirabl covered, :as byia box 'like' giormation 26,to render -the ciae dustproof Whenpanl fl '8 is closed, end to limit the"amount a jfhrger can be inserted throughlthe hole.

As-best snown in fFiguresQanfd 4,"there isise: cured to panel is asupport block 32 vv'hichv lp'ivdtallyinounts 'an'antenna of theconventional buggywhip type, designated by numeral 36,- and omp isi a purality. o te cop n sec n as is :Well knownin the art. .Blofck "32 ischannel- 'hape on a sectio (Fi u e 4' a d "t qw r if n en a'ifi i w i en=m i 'e rounds jshownfinjlrigure 3) is piVotaIlysecuretlbetvreen' thelegsoitheehannel by a pivot pin 36. In order to provide sufiicientfriction at the pivot to maintain antenna 30 in its desired position,the body of block 32 may be bored out as at 38 (Figure 3) and acompression spring 40 and a friction block 42 inserted in the bore, soas to press against the end 3d of the antenna. A clip 44 may be securedto panel 18 at a point spaced from block 32, and is adapted to receivethe outer end of antenna 39 when the latter is pivoted from its erect orvertical position to the dashed line position of Figures 1 and 2.

It will be understood that suitable connection is provided from antenna30 or block 32 to the receiver contained in case l6. Hence, all that isnecessary to put the antenna in operation is to open the closure panel[3, swing antenna 39 to its vertical position as in Figure 1, and, ifdesired, extend one or more of its collapsible sections. The location ofblock 32 on panel 18 assures that the antenna is adequately spaced fromthe case iii to prevent shorting the antenna circuit if case i0 is ofmetal. In the event that panel 18 is also of metal, block 32 and clip 44are preferably insulated therefrom, as by insulation 48 and 46respectively. The reason for insulating clip 48 from panel 18, eventhough antenna 38 is disengaged from the clip in its normal position ofuse, is to permit operation of the set with the antenna in its foldedposition, where sufficient signal strength is available. As a matter offact, I have found that it is often possible to receive signals with theantenna folded and the shelf 18 in its closed position, and particularlywhere the case and panel are of an insulating material and the set isused in a region of high signal strength.

In order to facilitate the use of an auxiliary or external antenna wheredesired, I have provided a connector, such as the spring clip 50, whichis mounted on panel l8 adjacent block 32 but insulated from the panel bythe same layer of insulation 48 which supports the block 32. Clip 50 isconnected to block 32 through a small condenser 52 whose function is toachieve a more desirable match between a relativel lengthy externalantenna and the antenna circuit of the set.

By the above construction I have provided a compact and convenientarrangement of the antenna as well as the power cord (where the set isof the power line operated variety), in that access to both is providedby the single operation of opening closure panel l8. Hence, the effortto gain access to either automatically calls attention to the other,which is a considerable advantage when the set is to be operated bythose unfamiliar with the equipment. Moreover, the construction isrugged, reliable and efficient, yet relatively simple and economical tomanufacture, and in general satisfies the objects set out at thebeginning of this specification.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described a preferredembodiment of my invention, but I wish it to be understood that thespecific terms used and the details disclosed are exemplary only, andthat many changes and modifications are possible without departing fromthe spirit of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In portable radio equipment, a case, an aperture in said case, ametallic closure panel hingedly mounted on said case along an edge ofsaid aperture, a rod-like antenna pivotally mounted on the inner side ofsaid closure panel at a point spaced from the hinge axis thereof, andarranged to pivot about an axis substantially perpendicular to the hingeaxis of said panel, a spring clip on said closure panel spaced from thepivot axis of said antenna for releasably retaining said antenna in aposition parallel to said panel, and means insulating said antenna andsaid clip from said panel.

2. In portable radio equipment, a case, a chamber within said caseproviding stowage room for a power cord, said case being apertured toprovide access to said chamber, a closure panel hingedly connected tosaid case for movement between positions in which it closes the apertureof said case and in which it extends outwardly therefrom, and a rod-likeantenna element pivotally mounted upon that surface of said closurepanel which faces inwardly of said case when panel is inaperture-closing position, the pivotal mounting of said rod-like antennaelement being spaced from the hinge connection between said closurepanel and said case, the pivotal axis of said antenna element beingsubstantially perpendicular to the hinge axis of said closure panel.

3. The invention in accordance with claim 2, in which said antennaelement is pivotally mounted adjacent one end of said closure panel.

4. In a portable radio equipment, a case, an aperture in said case, aclosure panel hingedly mounted on said case along a lower edge of saidaperture, means for rigidly holding said closure panel in asubstantially horizontal open position, a telescoping rod-like antennapivotally mounted on the/inner side of said closure panel at a pointspaced from the hinge thereof, and arranged to pivot about an axissubstantially perpendicular to the hinge axis of said panel, saidmounting means being so located that when said closure panel is in theopen position and said antenna is in a vertical position the antenna isa substantial distance from said case, a spring clip on said closurepanel spaced from the pivot axis of said antenna for releasablyretaining said antenna in a position parallel to said panel, and meansinsulating said antenna and said clip from said panel whereby saidantenna is electrically operative when held by said clip and saidclosure panel is in the closed position.

WALTER S. HARMON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,626,803 Fishback May 5, 19271,763,382 Van Dyck June 10, 1930 1,826,437 Shapiro et a1 Oct. 6, 19312,292,163 Shea Aug. 4, 1942 2,295,191 Adams Sept. 8, 1942 2,315,315Cairnes Mar. 30, 1943 2,378,663 Striker June 19, 1945 2,388,567Patterson Nov. 6, 1945 2,396,121 Patino Mar. 5, 1946 2,460,492 CutlerOct. 30, 1946 V FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 7 Date 269,349 GreatBritain Apr. 21, 1927

